COMEDIAN Billy Connolly has pledged he will not surrender to Parkinson's Disease or prostate cancer, as the prepares for the start tonight of his sell-out tour of Scotland.
The Big Yin told an interviewer the cancer is now under control and the Parkinson's "affects me very little".
The 71-year-old, however, admitted the degenerative disorder leaves him less mobile than he used to be and has forced him to play his beloved banjo less.
Connolly revealed in a frank interview: "Sometimes I have a wee problem with stairs. And I don't play the banjo as well as I used to, but I don't think in terms of what I can't do. I get on with my life in spite of it.
"The Chinese have a saying; 'Death seeks hands with little to do' and I think it's very important to have a function." The Glasgow-born star highlighted the example of the shipyard welders he once worked with who couldn't cope with retirement, and died soon after.
"They lost their aim, their function, and suddenly they're sitting at home staring at the wallpaper. It's an absurdity." Connolly's is currently on screen in hit British comedy hit What We Did On Our Holidays, playing a delightfully quixotic 75 year-old not far removed from himself in a story about family dysfunctionality.
"They're difficult to manage, families," says the father-of-five. "People develop in different directions and it seldom meets up with the original plan. We all get on like a house on fire but arranging it (get togethers) is a nightmare."
The comedian didn't vote in the Scottish referendum. But he declares the aftermath to be "quite depressing".
However, he added that he was impressed by the numbers of people who turned out, adding: "There hasn't been another election like that in the world . . . 88 per cent turn out, astonishing!"
Meanwhile, Connolly's famous banana boots have now been listed among treasures insured for £1.4 billion by Glasgow City Council.
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